Sunny Daze's Stormy Nights
by OffCenterFold
Summary: Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town. Claire has settled into farm life fairly well; her first decade in Mineral Town has been generally satisfying. Except for a few little things... What if she didn't make the right decision after all?
1. Chapter 1

All characters are property of Natsume.

Sunny Daze's Stormy Nights

Sunny Daze Farm, Summer 2

The morning was uneventful. With all the summer crops planted yesterday before she'd gone to the Beach Festival, and the Harvest Sprites hard at work to water them all, Claire knew this year's crop would be a profitable one. With nearly half her field sown with pineapples, there would be a lot of waiting for the really high income to roll in, but it would be well worth it. The animals were fed, brushed, and happy. Rick was fed, brushed, and happy. Their little daughter was fed, brushed, and happy. There was only one problem.

Claire was bored. Really bored. It wasn't that she lacked for anything to do; the opposite was true, in fact. Every day was full of activity and socialization. The problem wasn't sitting around with nothing to do.

The problem was, it was the same people, day after day, season after season... Year after year.

She loved her husband very much; after all, she'd worked long and hard to earn Rick's love. Sometimes she even thought he might love her back as much as he loved his chickens. She couldn't even begrudge him that. After all, he'd been the first person to give her a gift since she'd come to Mineral Town, other than the old fishing rod. That hadn't really counted, since it was just lying around uselessly. It was kind of Zack to think of her, but it wasn't really the same. Rick had shared his very favorite thing with her - a spa-boiled egg. The gesture had touched her deeply.

And their daughter was a constant joy, always well behaved. So her growth was a little stunted; it hardly seemed to matter, really, considering that nothing else ever changed around Mineral town... No one aged. No one died or moved in, or had children (except for her and Rick, all of the couples who'd been married in recent years seemed to be barren. Claire herself only seemed able to have one child.)

Life was SO BORING!

The one difference was in the summer, when Kai and Popuri came back to town. Rick had never liked his little sister's choice of husband, but he had resigned himself to it - mostly. Kai still claimed that Rick came to his room at the inn and harangued him in the evenings, but Rick refused to discuss the subject. Claire found the petty feud annoying, but had come to accept it as part of her husband's personality. Still, his resentment was not completely unfounded. Even Claire herself wasn't immune to the spirited young man's charms.

And he did make a mean pizza.

Even Rick would begrudgingly admit that Kai's Beach House added a little variety to the menu available at Doug's Inn. Though the tavern owner was an excellent cook, he only offered a few dishes. Kai's selection, though no more numerous, was different. Only in summer could spaghetti be had - real spaghetti! - and the shaved ices he served were wonderful in the heat.

Even as she put the last of the feed in the chickens' bins, Claire found herself wondering what Kai was up to. He'd often made veiled suggestions in the years since they'd both been married, about how marriage was not exactly what he'd expected. He'd said outright on many occasions, "There will be lots of things between you and me, but we'll be okay." It made Claire wonder more.

She still had his lucky charm. He'd given it to her before Rick had given up his father's watch to her safe-keeping, but then he'd left, and by the time he returned the following year, she'd been married to the chicken farmer.

How unromantic of her, Claire reprimanded herself. She really did love Rick, for all he was so fixated on those birds. He was practical, sensitive, funny, and responsible. He cared deeply for the three and a half women in his life - his mother, his sister, his wife, and their perennially youthful daughter - and would not hesitate to go to whatever extreme he deemed necessary to protect and help them.

But after 9 years of marriage... He'd gotten... Boring. Just like everything else in Mineral Town.

At last the chores were done. The Harvest Sprites were running around watering merrily away and all the wild grasses she could harvest, she had. Claire pulled the Teleport Stone out of the chest. Closing her eyes as she held it, she focused on the peak of Mother's Hill. Picturing the majestic mountain in her mind's eye, she spoke the trigger word that sent her spinning dizzily but instantaneously to the rugged brown summit.

Gratified to see no one was around, Claire ran to the highest point, looking out into the emptiness. Below, to her left and off a way, was Forget-Me-Not Valley. It looked as nice as Mineral Town. Probably as mundane, too, she sighed to herself.

"I AM SO BORED!" she screamed, listening to the echo off distant hills and cliffs.

"Admittedly, it's not the most exciting place in the world, but I rather like it," a gruff voice behind her said.

~Oh, Goddess, Gotz! I forgot he usually comes up here around now, and I didn't notice him!~ Claire panicked to herself. "Gotz! I didn't see you! I'm so sorry... I know... I must sound really ungrateful, after all these years. You've all always been so kind to me. I love it here. I really do."

"But nothing ever changes anymore. I understand. I remember when you first came here. It wasn't all that long after my wife and child... died. Here on this very peak. The beginning of that winter, in fact, just before you came... They loved to walk here, and gather flowers, or make snow forts."

"You don't have to talk about it. It's okay."

"You've been here ten years and more, Claire. It's time you know the story, too. You're one of us now. And it's long enough." Gotz leaned against an outcropping of rock and stared out into the distance, next to Claire at the tip of the rocky pinnacle. "It was snowing. The first good snow of the season. They both loved the snow. Snowball fights, snowmen, snow angels, snow forts, all of it. I came along with them, but I was down near the path, while they ran around. They were here at the top. Then my wife slipped. My daughter tried to catch her, but she wasn't much older than May. Instead, they both slipped over the edge, and I wasn't fast enough. It all happened at once."

"Goddess.. Gotz, I'm so sorry..." Claire reached out a hand to the burly man's shoulder. It was then that she saw the tears running silently, unacknowledged down his weathered features. The maternal instinct in her took over and Claire pulled him closer, rocking him back and forth slowly as he succumbed at last to the sobs held back for so long. Slowly, too, she moved them away from the edge of the mountain. The risk of him jumping - or, far more likely, falling - was not one she was in the mood to face.

But as she held him, she realized slowly how very... DIFFERENT he felt. Rick was in good shape, but he was slender. Gotz was a very solid mass of muscle. Strong as a woodcutter must be, and warm. Claire tried to suppress the guilt she felt at just hugging him - after all, he was a friend, and a friend who needed a hug, at that. She strongly suspected he hadn't let the tears out in all the time since it happened. Not while he was awake, anyway.

It wasn't so much that she was attracted to Gotz, she reasoned with herself, as she was to the thought of something new and different. Really, he was rather too hairy for her tastes. She really didn't like beards.

All these thoughts passed through her mind in a moment, and she dismissed them as rapidly. She was a married woman with a child. Right now, Gotz needed a friend more than he needed a woman. Although Claire knew he and Karen were friendly; more than once, the idea of trying to get them to settle down had passed through her mind, but it didn't seem to be in the cards. Wouldn't it be nice, though...

Gotz shifted in her cradling embrace, and she let him go. "I'm sorry. I..." He seemed to be at a complete loss for words.

"It's okay, Gotz. I do understand. It's a hard thing," Claire said, "and I know you don't open up easily to people. I'm honored that you could do so with me. Hey," she said, almost as an afterthought. "I brought some milk up with me, but I think you need it more," she said, pulling it out of her rucksack and handing it to him.

"Cool! It could use this!" Gotz smiled happily. If not for his tear-stained and bedraggled appearance, one might never know that he had so much pain inside, Claire mused to herself. Claire had always wondered what he meant when he said that. ~It?~

"Come on. Let's get out of here. Would you like to join us for dinner?" Claire smiled. "Don't worry. I'm cooking."

"Thanks! You're really nice," the woodcutter smiled. Together, they turned and walked down the mountain. "I'm just going to stop off and change, first... I have to have SOMETHING I don't work in!" Claire laughed with him as they walked.

"We'll see you at 6?"

"Absolutely!"

Once back on the farm, Claire took the teleport stone back out of her pocket. Since it was already 4:30, she figured she had just enough time to pop in on Rick and let him know. He'd be tending the chickens; she could tell him to come home instead of going to that bar again... As fond as she was of Doug, Claire wasn't so keen on her husband spending all evening, every single night at the bar. Especially when Karen was there... The girl had made no secret of her attachment to Rick. Even Claire's sweet, sensitive, and rather naive husband couldn't be totally unaware of her feelings. For all she knew, he had never gotten over his childhood crush on the market owner's daughter.

Lilia smiled at her daughter in law. "How is Raine? She must be getting big."

Claire smiled at the ritual greeting in turn. "Well, Mominlaw, you could come by once in a while... I could teleport you in, if you want."

Lilia shook her head. "You know that thing makes me nervous," she said, greeting Claire with a kiss on the cheek. "So what brings you in so suddenly?"

"Well, I actually came to tell my husband," she said, raising her voice a little, "that Gotz is joining us for dinner and I'd REALLY appreciate it if he came home instead of staying out all night at the bar."

"Yes dear. You know I don't go there to drink."

"Much."

"Children..." Lilia's voice had that edge.

"Sorry," the two replied in unison.

"Rick, please just come straight home tonight. I've got to start cooking." Kissing her mother in law again, Claire focused on the pink stone...

...and reappeared at her own front door. "Fortunately," she told the dog, "tomorrow's weather will be nice too so I can leave the animals outside."

Thunder just barked at her and went off after Lightning, who had grown into quite a fine stallion and was still in his prime.

Claire just sighed.

"Now. What to make for dinner..." Slipping inside, Claire perused her recipe book, standing in the kitchen.

"I don't want something too simple, but I know Gotz doesn't go much for the heavy dishes either... hmmm." As she stood at the kitchen, pondering what to make, there was a knock at the door.

~Hmm? I wonder who that could be,~ Claire turned to face the door in curiosity as it opened. ~Oh, Goddess, not now...~

It was Popuri. And behind her were the four other women of Mineral Town in their age group. The temptation to chase them out was strong...

Popuri smiled. "Claire, would you cook for us?" As Mary, Karen, Ellie, and Ann filed in behind her, each with a request to be fed, Claire sighed. She could no more turn them away than leave Gotz crying on the mountaintop. No matter that some of them were politer than others about it, either...

After standing like ducks in a row, they sat at her table and placed orders as if she was a waitress. Silly girls... Didn't they have anything better to do? But no, they each calmly sat there with requests... Eggs over Rice. Vegetable Latte. Sashimi. Salad. Cheese Fondue. Leaving Claire with a huge dent in her larder and very little time to clean the house.

Claire knew the smile on her face was strained as they all left. It wasn't that she minded cooking, but that was an hour down the tubes and Gotz would be there any minute! And where was her husband...?

"Pancakes!" she exclaimed happily. "Everyone likes pancakes." Raine gurgled happily. "Fine, I'll make you pancakes too, you little brat," Claire smiled indulgently and got to work.

She just had time to finish making the pancakes and put Raine to bed. Another knock on the door came as she was changing clothes. Fortunately, whoever it was didn't barge in as the girls had. "Coming!" ~And where IS that husband of mine? If he forgot... I don't know WHAT I'll do...~

Gotz smiled when she opened the door. "I brought some fresh flowers," he said almost shyly. His hostess thanked him as she beckoned him in, placing them in the vase near her bed.

"Thanks. I haven't had a chance to bring in this season yet," she said. "They're beautiful. Come, come in, sit, make yourself comfortable. Rick should be home any minute," ~I hope,~ "and we can eat. I made pancakes."

The grin that spread over the woodcutter's face at that was unmistakeable. "Cool! Would you mind if we sat outside for a while? It's a nice evening." Stepping back outside, Claire sat on the shipping box, and Gotz made himself comfortable next to her. It was a little narrow for the two of them, but surprisingly comfortable.

"You know what's kind of funny," Gotz continued, "is that I hardly ever visit anyone to eat. In fact, most of us in town never really eat at each other's houses. I don't know why I never thought of it. And I don't know why we don't visit the valley, either. Or why they don't visit here. I guess some of us go there for festivals, occasionally, but I can see why you'd get bored," he finished quietly.

Claire nodded. "Everything is so routine..."

"You should go to visit Forget-me-not Valley. There are some really nice people out that way, and it makes a nice day trip," Gotz said.

Claire nodded. "That does sound nice," she said. "Maybe I'll convince Rick to come with. And maybe you could show us around?" For the first time in years, Gotz noticed, the young blonde farmer looked hopeful.

He laughed at her youthful enthusiasm. "Of course!" It wasn't that he was so much older than she, as much as it was that she just seemed so young and naive in so many ways sometimes. He felt protective of her, had felt the same instinct for many years though they had never before been all that close.

"Speaking of Rick, I hope he didn't go to the Inn. I told him you were coming for dinner." Claire sighed. "And now it's going to get cold..."

"No offense, but I think we can eat without waiting for him." Gotz looked hesitant as he made the suggestion. "I, for one, am hungry, and I hate seeing you sad," he added more shyly.

Claire sighed. It seemed that no time had actually passed no matter how long they'd been talking. She wondered if Rick was going to bother coming home...

The pancakes slowly grew colder. Claire gave herself up to enjoying the evening with Gotz, but after a while she excused herself. "I'm just going to check outside and see if he's coming. I know you're hungry," she smiled apologetically. Gotz smiled and nodded, looking happy just to be there, not dining alone in an empty house.

No sooner was the stone in her hands than she stood in front of the Poultry Farm. No one was in the yard, which wasn't surprising. Rather than knock on the door, Claire 'ported herself to Doug's Inn. The usual evening sounds of laughter and conversation drifted out. Already, she knew she'd see him when she walked in. What hurt the most was the pint he kept in one hand, and the several empty mugs around the bar in front of his companion. Karen. Wordlessly, she turned and left; no one seemed to notice her.

Doug sighed and went back to polishing glasses. He'd tried, many times over the years, to explain to both Rick and Karen that Rick needed to spend some evenings with his wife, instead of at the bar. Not that Doug didn't appreciate their patronage, far from! Still, Rick was a husband and father now. He had obligations. Doug's own greatest regret was that he'd spent more time trying to make the business work than he'd devoted to his wife. It was one of the reasons he had so much trouble getting past her death, even though he only allowed himself the one day to mourn each year. And here was young Rick, not even working on the farm alongside his wife, not going home every night to his wife, but coming to Doug's Inn every night, meeting his childhood sweetheart once a week... He took a deep breath and tried not to get angry on Claire's behalf. It would do no one any good; it never had.

He wasn't alone. Several other denizens of the tiny town in the mountains were concerned about Claire and Rick's marriage. Not all of them, however, were concerned for the same reasons; many times Ann had stormed in from a walk, fuming over how "those dowdy old gossips" were picking apart the young couple she numbered among her friends.

Claire ran back to the farm, feeling bad about leaving Gotz alone for so long. It was after 9 o'clock already; the pancakes were doubtless inedible by now. Still, she needed to calm herself before returning; the hurt and anger had knotted so tightly in her throat that she couldn't breathe. A good run would help, if only a little, so that by the time she got back she could at least fake a smile.

Gotz, however, was no longer sitting on the shipping box. Quickly, she scanned the farm for him, but she didn't see him anywhere. Defeated on all fronts, she stepped back inside the grand farmhouse he'd built for her.

"I hope you don't mind," Gotz said from the kitchen, "but I thought I'd reheat dinner while you were gone. He smiled warmly, understanding in his eyes as he deftly handled the pan, flipping pancakes in the air.

Claire couldn't help but smile back, albeit weakly. "I was afraid you'd get annoyed and leave," she confessed. "I'm really sorry. But... Rick won't be joining us, after all."

The tall woodsman noted the way her features tightened as she spoke. "Well, that's just his loss, then, isn't it? Come on, let me serve you."

"But Gotz, you're my guest! I couldn't possibly-"

"Uh uh uh! I don't want to hear it! This is the only way I have left to show my appreciation. I've already built everything I could for you!" Now he grinned, as Claire seemed to relax a little. "Now, sit down and eat."

Well, she could hardly argue with that! Sitting at the table, she smiled weakly at the burly man. It was odd, she couldn't help thinking in the back of her mind, but her frilly apron somehow suited him...

After they ate, with Raine gurgling quietly in her sleep, Claire felt restless. She didn't want Gotz to leave, but sitting in the house made her feel trapped. "Do you mind if we sit outside again? It's such a nice night out," she said. Whether Gotz sensed her mood or not, he led the way back to the shipping box, "I know you must think I'm a terrible hostess," she said as she settled next to him. "All I've done is fret all night."

"Don't be silly! I'm having a great time, and you have every reason to be upset. I think you're actually doing quite well," her friend said. "If I were you, I'd probably have chased him around Doug's with an axe," he grinned unrepentantly.

"I almost did," she said wryly. Sighing, she looked up at the stars, gleaming brilliantly in the night sky over her farm. It was after 10 o'clock, and even the animals grazing in their outdoor pastures were asleep. Slowly, the stars grew hazy and indistinct, beginning to dance around each other like harvest sprites in some far off place.

"Claire... Claire?" A gruff voice woke her. Gotz's shoulder was warm against her cheek, and she sat up quickly, grateful for the darkness that hid her flaming face.

"I... Oh, Gotz, I'm so terribly sorry... I'm so embarrassed!" Claire slid down off the shipping box.

"Hush. There's nothing to be embarrassed. It's late, and you're tired. You work very hard, Claire. Sometimes I don't think we appreciate all the work you really do," Gotz said. He too got to his feet. "You go inside and sleep. I'll see you later," he said gruffly.

For a long moment, she was all too aware of his solid strength so close to her. In the distance, she heard a someone whistled a soft, off-key tune that slowly grew closer. Rick.

She gazed up at Gotz, warring internally. Spiting Rick would be wrong. But it was so very tempting...

Gotz solved the problem by hugging her and planting a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Go get some rest."

Rick strolled through the fence and Gotz slipped away into the night, knowing that if he stayed to greet Claire's husband, he was at least as likely to run a fist through the nerdy little man's face. And no matter how upset Claire was with her husband, that wouldn't do any of them any good.

"Darling! I'm home!" Rick said, walking through the door. "Darling?"

Claire was still standing outside, looking at the now closed door of her own home with trepidation. "Sometimes, Rick, you are such an idiot." Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and went inside.

"Ah! There you are, Darling! You were working late tonight! Usually you're asleep by the time I get home," Rick said. Either he was a very good actor or he had no idea what was going on.

The blonde regarded her husband for a long moment. "Do you not remember me coming by your mother's house? I told you Gotz was coming for dinner." Rick looked at her blankly. "I told you I'd appreciate it if you came home instead of going to the inn. And yet, surprise of surprises, time passed and no Rick. I went to the inn. There was Rick." Her voice was shaking, reflecting the way her whole body trembled with anger. She couldn't keep the hurt from leaking into her expression.

"I... I don't remember," the chicken keeper replied. "I thought you said that was tomorrow," he added rather weakly.

"No, Rick. That was tonight." Claire picked up Thunder and carried the dog to bed. She wanted more than Raine between her and her husband that night.

"Claire, Darling, I'm so sorry. I really am."

Claire said nothing, crawling into bed. Thunder curled up at her feet and dropped off almost as soon as his mistress.


	2. Chapter 2

Sunny Daze Farm, Summer 3

The alarm went off, and Claire was out of bed. Mornings had never been her strong point when she'd lived in the city; even moving to Mineral Town, she'd had problems with them. Still, after so long, she'd become acclimated to the hours of a farmer. The third day of Summer, and there wasn't much to do. She could take care of the animals at her leisure, since the Harvest Sprites were watering her newly planted crops. Barely giving her husband a glance as he paced the rug around the table, she slipped outside and stretched in the dawn light. Taking a deep breath of the fresh, clean air had become an almost ritualistic practice.

Setting Thunder down, she took long, slow breaths. Needing them more than usual today, she usually took three but doubled that this morning. The dog ran off chasing a butterfly, yapping happily, and she smiled after him.

She'd been keeping the chickens outside; the fresh air was as good for them as it was for her, and they loved to be outdoors in nice weather. Bugs and seeds were a treat to their palettes over the corn she usually fed them indoors. Each of the 8 birds had its own personality and she loved them all, picking them up, stroking them, and moving them to a new part of the pen system she'd set up. This way they could all get new pastures every day, and they knew she loved them. Gathering their eggs, she ducked into the henhouse and processed them into mayonnaise, as the shipping price was better. Then she made her way back up to the cow barn.

The cows and her one sheep, like the chickens, were penned up near their quarters, and were quietly grazing in their larger pasture, mooing happily when she brushed them. The cows allowed her to milk them with typical bovine relief, but the sheep had been sheared only three days before. Taking the milk inside, she processed each cow's product into cheese, then put everything into the shipping bin. Coming back out, she saw the Harvest Sprites making fast work of the watering.

Her last stop on the farm was at the small stable. Setting foot inside, she whistled shrilly. The bay stallion trotted up to her, whickering with pleasure at her presence. She gave him a good rubdown and mounted up; he'd been a faithful and loving steed for years, winning many races and working hard for her. Sometimes she thought about retiring him to stud, but he still had too much energy to enjoy the quiet life.

Three times they circled the farm's boundaries, along the fence to the north and east, down along the river to the south, then back up around the west side, sometimes right through the fenced off area where the chickens clucked their indignation at the intrusion. Running on Lightning always made her feel better; something about the air in her hair and the musculature of the horse moving beneath her soothed even her most frayed nerve. At last she let him slow and wished once again that she could take him into town. As it was, she dismounted at the gate and sent the horse off with a gentle slap.

She jogged up the road; jogging always made her feel like she was getting somewhere. Heading past the Poultry Farm and Barley's small stead, she hoped it wasn't late enough for the Gossip Gaggle to be gathered in Rose Square. It wasn't a charitable nickname for the small group of women, but then, neither was most of the gossip they fostered.

To Claire's relief, the square was empty as she crossed it on her way to the beach. She could as easily have teleported in, but the walk was invigorating, and besides. It heightened her color a little.

Coming down the steps to the beach, she spotted some grass growing in its usual spot. Plucking the purple-hued wild plant, she packed all she could find in her rucksack before turning to the north end of the beach, and Kai's venture.

He waved in greeting. She waved back, jogging up through the sand.

"Hey, Kai! How's it going?"

Kai tried to look nonchalant as usual, replying as he always did. "Marriage is not always easy. Don't you agree?" She could only nod. If only he knew! But then, maybe he did...

"There` will be lots of things between you and me, but we'll be fine." There was something in his expression that pushed the statement into an awkward moment for her.

"Kai... You say that. But... I have to ask." Claire suddenly felt shy, and looked off towards the sea, where the waves lapped gently against the pale sand. "What... What do you mean by it?"

Kai blinked. "Huh?"

This was going to be harder than she thought. "When you say things like that... I mean... It's no secret to anyone that your marriage to Popuri is... err.. less than ideal..." Now it was impossible to look at him. "And... Are you just saying that? Or do you... Y'know... Mean... Something... By it...?"

Kai raised a curious eyebrow. "Umm.. Claire... I can't hear you when you mumble like that."

The blonde hadn't realized she was mumbling, and her face burned hotter. "Are you saying you want to.."

"I want to hook up with you." Kai said. There was a very long pause, as Claire's face flamed, and for some reason her heart pounded in her throat. "Is that what you're asking if I'm asking?"

She could only nod. For a long moment, he'd let her think that was exactly it. Suddenly it hit her: the little sadist was enjoying watching her squirm!

"You're really hot when you're embarrassed, you know," he said wryly.

Her eye began twitching, and she could feel the vein beginning to pop out on her forehead. Her embarrassment was quickly turning to anger. "You know, Kai, if that was what you wanted, you should have just said so."

"Why? What reason did you give me to think that you'd consider it?" His tone was still that cool, teasing lilt. She refused to look at him, so she missed the nervousness in his eyes.

"I didn't. We're both married, Kai, and just because our marriages aren't what we'd hoped they'd be doesn't mean I'd just jump into your bed because it was there!" Her voice tight with anger, she refused to look at him. He, meanwhile, maintained his relaxed pose as he sat on the bench, but every muscle was trembling with his own unease. DID he mean what he said? What he implied? What if he did? And what if... What if she said yes!

The thought was too much to contemplate all of a sudden. A wave of relief swept over him as the time came to open for lunch and he could hide behind the counter, busying himself with the familiar tasks of operating his barely operational business. He gave a weak half wave as he beat a hasty retreat.

Claire walked stiffly to the end of the pier, raised her eyes to the heavens and screamed, long and loud. If only there were somewhere she could go, to get away from this madness! Her discussion with Gotz about a trip to Forget-Me-Not Valley sounded more and more tempting by the minute.

Zack poked his head out of his house. "Hey, Claire, everything okay? I heard someone screaming," he said cautiously.

Nodding, the blonde turned towards the burly shipping master. "I'm sorry. I'm just a little... frustrated, at the moment," she said with no little embarrassment. "Have you ever heard of primal scream therapy?"

Zack nodded and grinned. "Yeah. Great stuff. I usually do mine from the top of Mother's Peak. Late at night." Now it was his turn to look embarrassed. "I think for a while people thought I was some kind of wild beast." He blushed.

Claire giggled. "Maybe they'll think there are two, now, if you don't mind my borrowing your spot."

Zack shrugged. "Okay by me. Hey, maybe we'll go together sometime. I've heard it's more relaxing if you go with someone else."

Claire nodded. "I used to be part of a group, back in the City," she said. "We had a soundproof room and everything, and we'd all take turns just screaming in each other's faces. Even on the worst days, we would all end up laughing," she added with no small nostalgia.

"That does sound like fun," the tall guy answered. "Anyway, how's the farm?"

"The farm is the one thing that's not driving me utterly up the wall," she answered wryly.

"Gotcha. If you're okay then...?"

Claire nodded. "Sorry again. Please apologize to Won for me as well."

Zack agreed and withdrew his head back into his house.

Another heavy sigh escaped the blonde farmer's lips as she turned back towards Rose Square and the Church. Maybe a few minutes of peace in its confines would be what she needed for the moment... Desperation was beginning to color her thoughts. Another unchanging summer. Nothing new ever happened anymore. Nothing exciting ever happened, EVER. Rick never wondered why, one day a year, she made twice as much on all her produce as she did on any other day. Her child would never even speak a full sentence, trapped forever in unchanging childhood. Stupid fluke of genetics that had made her thus...

Sitting in a pew in the mercifully empty building, Claire lay her head down and cried.

~Claire... Claire?~ The voice was soft, feminine, and familiar. It seemed to come from all around, inside her head and out, rather than through her ears. ~Claire, why are you crying?~

"Ha... Harvest Goddess? Is... is that... You?" Fear and awe warred with doubt in the young farmer's heart. The Goddess NEVER appeared away from her pond... Except for the occasional wedding.

~Tadaaaaa! Yes, it's me!~ The form of a voluptuous, green haired woman came into being in a flash of brilliant white light. ~You're the only one who's made offerings in such a long time. Even Carter stopped, when he realized that he really isn't needed here. It makes him sad,~ the Goddess mused. ~But I'm not here for Carter, even if he is supposed to be my priest, and this is my Church. No, Claire,~ she smiled at the bewildered young woman's expression. ~I'm here for you.~

"For... me?" Confusion dominated in Claire's heart, but the fear hadn't gone - and was now taking a very different turn. "But... But I'm... I... But..."

Merry laughter interrupted her stammering attempt at a protest. ~Oh, not like that, don't you worry. I'm not demanding that you take up a life of chastity and become my priestess like Carter became my priest. Silly boy doesn't realize he's doing it half wrong anyway. I'm also a fertility goddess, you know.~ The divine visitor giggled. ~I encourage my priesthood to wed and bear families. Big ones! And I'm not here to take you to the next life, either. Stop fretting.~

Claire could do nothing but flap her mouth like a fish out of water, which was rather apt considering that was how she felt. "I.. uuh... mm... okay.. But then why..."

~Am I here? Well,~ the goddess projected, adopting a lotus position as she floated midair. Claire's mind refused to try to grapple with that. ~It's very rare that someone normally so devoted to me is so unhappy. I heard your cries and I decided to see if I could help.~

Claire sighed again. "Well, unless you can make my child grow up, make my husband grow up, and make something HAPPEN around here other than the occasional storm... I'm not keen on being shut in, or I'd've stayed in the city." She was unable to keep the bitterness from her voice. "Nothing changes. Nothing happens. Once I got married, and everyone else got married, that's it. Sometimes I think I'd've been better staying in the city, or being dead, or something!"

~Hmmm. Well...~ Suddenly Claire felt woozy, as if she'd been working too hard. The room swayed, and the Goddess' face hovered over hers. Reality flickered and went dark.

Her arm flailed to stop the incessant buzzing of her alarm. "Why," she moaned, as the snooze button refused to work. The jarring, aggravated giant cricket noise it made was not going to stop until she actually turned it off with that tiny little annoying switch in the back. Claire rolled over in the small bed and sat up, rubbing her eyes blearily. "Why why why why why..." Standing, she made her way across the hall to the tiny bathroom of her apartment. The reflection that glared sullenly back at her was not a pretty one. Faded blonde hair framed a face that was showing its age. Bitterness and cigarettes colored her features with a sickly yellowish brown hue. In her forties, Claire was miserable.

Showering and dressing didn't take long; she didn't have many clothes and she no longer bothered to keep them as neat as she had in her seemingly distant youth. As she did every morning, she wished she'd told that Thomas person she'd take the damned farm. As it was...

Waiting for the train was always unpleasant at best, but this morning wasn't one of those. Delays once again clogged the terminal, the hot summer morning made even worse by the stink of sweat and urine and rotting garbage. When the train finally came, there was barely room to get in, and being squashed like a runt sardine had never pleased Claire much, but if she didn't get this train, she'd be officially late for work.

It wasn't that she cared about the job. Working as a secretary for a questionable law firm in a bad neighborhood was pretty much a dead-end job and had been for the two decades she'd held it. The office itself was dingy, ill-lit and not very clean, in the basement of a warehouse. There was one bathroom for the three lawyers, 2 paralegals, and six clerical staffers the small office housed. There were eight desks, and they were practically on top of each other. Files were kept anywhere they fit. They had file cabinets lining the hallway.

No one liked each other very much in the office, and Claire doubted any of her colleagues (herself included) very much liked themselves.

Coming home from work was almost as much of a thrill as getting there, save that the small basement apartment had room enough for Claire and her very meagre possessions. Barely. And she didn't have much. She made ends meet, and that was all. Her nights were spent alone in front of the same TV shows she always watched. She had every bad episode memorized.

"Why did I say no," she moaned every night as she lay in bed, waiting for sleep to come.

Her arm flailed to stop the incessant buzzing of her alarm. "Why," she moaned, as the snooze button refused to work. The jarring, aggravated giant cricket noise it made was not going to stop until she actually turned it off with that tiny little annoying switch in the back. Claire rolled over in the small bed and sat up, rubbing her eyes blearily. "Why why why why why..."

Every day started the same. Every day was unchanging; the only differences were from where she ordered an overpriced but cheap dinner, and the idiots who called her office in what seemed to her to be a competition for Most Obnoxious, Stupid, Useless, and Time Wasting Question. When she'd decided not to work that farm in Mineral Town, she'd floated around from job to job for a few years, each one more unsatisfying than the last.

"Why didn't I take that farm?" she would muse bitterly at her aging reflection every day.

But then something clicked inside her head.

"Wait. I... This isn't right," she told herself, staring more intently at the mirror. "Is it? I... It seems like I remember... But that's not possible," she said, dismissing the thought. And so began another depressing day in the life of Claire.

Still, all through the day she had a niggling little thought in the back of her mind. It escaped her constantly, but some undefinable feeling dodged around the edges of her thoughts whenever she contemplated the other life she COULD have had, as she so often did.

Lying down in bed that night, she tried something she hadn't in years. Closing her eyes, lying flat on her back on the floor instead of her lumpy little bed, she took slow, deep breaths. Concentrated on clearing her mind. Felt the old comfort of weightlessness begin to free her from her more mundane concerns.

And snapped right back into awareness as her back spasmed violently. "Oh yeah... That's why I stopped meditating," Claire groaned to herself as she curled up in the fetal position.

Too exhausted to move and in too much pain to sleep right away, she stared at the dingy, yellowed walls of her cramped apartment. "This is not my life... Please, someone tell me this is not my life..."

It must have been hours before she finally fell asleep.

~It could have been,~ an oddly familiar voice pierced her dreams.

..."Dream...?" Claire woke slowly, surprised to find her back didn't hurt, nor was she on the floor of a drafty little apartment of the city. No... She was...

"In Church! But... How long...?"

~Only about no time at all, really,~ the Harvest Goddess said. No longer smiling, she levitated in front of Claire as the farmer sat up. ~If you are so dissatisfied with your life in Mineral Town, you could easily have your life in the city back,~ she continued brusquely.

Claire shook her head violently. "I don't want that. You know I don't want that. I'm not unhappy here. I just wish there was a little more... HAPPENING! For Your sake, Harvest Goddess, I'm the only one of the five couples in my age bracket who's even had a child... Nothing changes here, and I was never a good one for too much stability," Claire admitted shamefacedly.

~Which is why you made a good farmer from the beginning. Farmers must adapt on a daily basis to things like the weather and their crops. They must take into account expenses versus potential profit. There is so much to learn, and you took to it as a strawberry to rain.~ The goddess smiled once more. ~You have free will, Claire. You can make things happen. All I ask is that you not disrupt things too fiercely, else you will be unable to set them to rights again...~ And so saying, with a flash of lightning, the Harvest Goddess vanished.

"Holy Alexandrite," Claire murmured. "Is she TELLING me I should have an affair?"


	3. Chapter 3

Sunny Daze Farm, Summer 4

Claire awoke the next morning as bewildered as she'd been when she'd fallen asleep the night before. After coming home from the Church, she'd gone straight to bed, not even waiting for Zack to pick up the shipment as was her usual custom. Long since asleep before her husband came home, as usual, she wasn't entirely surprised that she didn't feel all that well rested.

The Event of the day before tumbled over and over in her head. She had drifted off while considering her options...

Zack had his own place on the beach, but not much appeal. He was a great guy but she had never been able to find him interesting on any romantic level. He was too goofy over Lilia - her own mother in law! - to notice if she even wanted to try seducing him...

Won. Utterly appealing, in his own way, but not very feasible... Not that he had many customers, but Zack at least would notice if the saucy salesman missed a day setting up shop. So that just wasn't practical.

Kai... Kai was definitely attractive, and flirted terribly... Not too many people would notice if he wasn't sitting on the bench outside the shack he operated during the summer months in between lunchtime and dinnertime...

Father Carter? Not likely. He was just too... Religious looking for Claire to consider it - and he'd never indicated any interest in her - or anyone else for that matter. He seemed to be perfectly content to live vicariously through his parishioners, for the most part...

The older married men were out, so as cute as Basil and Jeff (each in his own older way) were, Claire wasn't even going to think about it. Duke too, which was no small relief! He was just too sardonic and made her a little nervous.

Doctor? No. He and Elli were just too into each other - and never apart anyway.

Barley and Saibara were simply too old, and would likely laugh in her face even if she WERE to consider it... She shuddered. No, they were far too grandfatherly.

Mayor Thomas? Harris? Not likely. Harris was too prudish, though not in a bad way, and the Mayor... well... He was the Mayor!

Doug honored his dead wife's memory too much, and he too never had any privacy, although he wasn't a bad looking sort. He was too fatherly, though, and she didn't doubt he often wished his own daughter had found a husband...

Cliff. Ahh, Cliff. Quiet, clueless Cliff. Utterly delicious to look at and fragile as paper, Cliff would be delightful but complicated. He would need a lot of coddling and comforting, and since he had no place of his own, it would be hard to have any clandestine meetings - unless they met in the wine cellar! Now, THAT could be interesting...

Gray? Also unlikely. He was too adoring of his literary wife - with good reason. He and Mary were a surprisingly good match, and Claire didn't really think of Gray in that way. Even if the blacksmith's apprentice did have any appeal for her, there was no opportunity. He was never anywhere but his wife's home, his job, or occasionally the library.

And Gotz. Tall, strong, rugged Gotz, built so unlike her rather scrawny husband. She loved Rick, but Gotz was a completely different kettle of fish - and a fine one at that. With his own cozy shack in the woods, far from anyone else, he had a very good setup, and as she'd noted the other day, a very... comfortable... chest...

Sighing to herself, Claire finished attending to the animals as she considered the options she'd left to herself: Kai, Gotz, and Cliff. And maybe Zack. He HAD, after all, offered her access to his primal scream therapy hideaway...

Some days, she mused to herself, it just doesn't pay to get out of bed... Anyone's bed.

She did so anyway, pondering the likelihood of finding another farm somewhere else. Or maybe going to astronaut school. Yes... Astronaut school... As she fed the livestock and collected the produce, waving at the Harvest Sprites, she pondered what it might be like to live on the moon. As far away from here as possible seemed like a good plan... It was a good life, but so... stagnant. That was the word.

And that was the crux of it: No matter what she did, she wasn't going to be satisfied with her life. The time had come to buckle down, she began to realize, and start making herself be happy with what she had.

Needing to clear her head, she decided to walk over to the Library. Mary was a good friend, and understood the need for company as well as the need for solitude. The Library would be a good haven from the storm that raged within. Claire smiled to herself as she remembered first meeting Mary.

The petite young woman was pacing back and forth, her nose buried in a book. "I wonder what I should do with this?... No... Hmm... Oh! I'm sorry I didn't see you there. Hi, Claire. Welcome to the Library. Not many people come to the Library. I'm glad you came! Sorry about that before... When I get lost in thought, I don't notice anything."

She seemed nice, and cute enough. Claire gathered that this was Mary. "Can I help?"

"I'm writing a novel, you see. I was just having a case of writer's block, that's all. Just let me know if you want to read anything. I bet I have lots of books you'd like! Read any book you want." She smiled happily and went back to her pacing.

Whether or not Mary was up to talking, Claire figured she could hide out in there. Even if Gray was around, which wasn't too likely considering that Saibara'd been working him hard lately, the library was always quiet. Sometimes Elli or the doctor would come by, usually on a Wednesday when the clinic was closed. Briefly Claire wondered what day it was, then realized how little it mattered in the vast monotony of things. As long as the library was open, anyway. Still, the walk would help.

As she left the farm, she was surprised to realize it wasn't much past 9. She took the long way around town to her destination, knowing that it wouldn't open before ten - and she really didn't relish wandering around in front of the place for a while. She could jog, and it wouldn't take too long, but would still kill the time before Mary opened.

She kept her head down, focusing on the ground before her, counting her footfalls, not looking around as she often did at the unchanging town. Usually she enjoyed the quiet scenery; today she just wanted to escape.

So she didn't notice when she passed Karen outside the Supermarket... At that time of day, a break in the other girl's routine. Karen, however, noticed Claire. Her eyes narrowed in speculation; she had heard of Claire's little nap in the Church - by now, everyone in town had - although no one knew of the vision she'd had. Carter had been very worried when he'd come by, asking Sasha to help with Claire. He'd already notified the doctor, who had left his wife in charge of the Clinic and sent him for Sasha. She could be sharp but she was cool in a crisis. Between them, they'd determined that she was only very deeply asleep, and Carter had his suspicions about her experience (he had seen instances of the Goddess' direct interference in someone's life on a few occasions and, no more than twice before, there had been situations where people were in just such a state before waking up and explaining their visions to him - confidentially, of course). Sasha couldn't help speculating to her family at dinner that night and Karen was more than a little curious. She noted Claire's introspective demeanor with concern and more than a little wariness.

When Claire turned into the Library - not an uncommon thing after all - Karen dismissed the thought for the time being and went back to work.

As she entered, Mary was ensconced behind her desk, working furiously on her latest novel; everyone in town was proud of her success, but Mary herself was still disgustingly modest about it. She wrote for the love of writing, and had her work published for two reasons only: her husband wanted her to be happy, and for her being happy meant sharing the joys of words. So she nodded briefly to Claire in greeting, a question in her eyes. Claire deflected it and headed up the stairs. She took out a random book from a random shelf and stared at it.

Her eyes wouldn't focus on the words. She was so tired of the confusion and the frustration. Her mind kept going in circles... Should she take a lover, and cheat on her husband? Should she suffer through it? Should she leave Mineral Town behind altogether? What had the Goddess meant?

She curled up with her back against a shelf, her knees pulled up to her chin as she hugged the book around them. She closed her eyes, letting tears fall silently.

She had no idea how long she remained sitting there, but eventually a numbness in her legs prompted her to move. She had a child to raise, and a farm to support, and sitting around crying never accomplished anything. She needed to collect more wild grasses, too, partially for the slight boost to her profits (although she didn't really NEED much money, she did rather want a vacation home, and those were costly) and partially for their medicinal properties and flavor.

When she finally stretched out and went back downstairs, she was surprised to find Karen talking to Mary in a hushed voice.

"Claire! Hi! Did you have a good read?" Mary's cheerful greeting felt a little forced to Claire, but the blonde dismissed it as her own distress. She attempted a bright smile.

"Yeah. I was just refreshing myself on some of the techniques for cultivation," she said only a little lamely. "But I've got to get back to work. Those crops don't harvest themselves, even with the Sprites' help!"

The others nodded, and Claire missed the concerned look they exchanged. She was already halfway out the door.

She ran straight home to grab her basket but stopped when she saw the note in the mailbox. Bewildered, she pulled it out and read it.

It was a typed note that read simply, "Meet me at 9:00 tonight at the Hot Springs."

It was unsigned.

A flash of bewildered annoyance seized her. She usually liked to be in bed and asleep by that time... Either this was someone who didn't know her very well, or it was meant for Rick. She pondered a moment, then replaced the note, grabbed her shipping basket from its usual place near the front door, and made the rounds, going first up to the beach for the indigo grass that grew only there, then up near the church before circling back down around the wilder areas of town where more grasses grew. She took her time about the task and finished up later than usual, having made a sacrifice to the Harvest Goddess. She had slacked off for a while, but recently had begun again - and after yesterday, Claire didn't want to push her luck. The whole thing had unnerved her greatly... And she intended to be at the rendezvous at the Hot Springs whether it was meant for her... or not.

Still, by the time she got home it was only a little after 7. She went inside and made a fuss over Raine, played with Thunder, then went out to give Lightning his run around the farm. She could easily waste the time that way, and Lightning loved to run... It would be good for the both of them. He needed to stay in shape for the races after all. Even though she never made much wagering on him (he was such a regular winner that the odds were pretty even on him, and she wasn't much of a gambler) she loved the feel of his muscular horse torso moving beneath her body, responding to her unspoken commands. It was a beautiful thing, the bond between horse and rider, and always made her calmer.

She got so wrapped up in the joys of letting him run that she didn't realize how late it had gotten until the Harvest Sprites started leaving the field. Startled, she raced Lightning straight into the stable and headed directly for the hot spring, dressed as she was. She hoped that whoever was there would wait past the 9:00 deadline. She almost hoped that the note would be for Rick and she could catch him out in an affair of his own. It would make things easier for her in one sense at least; she could throw him out of the house and no one would question her then!

Still, as she crossed the quiet farmland, she was filled with trepidation which she fought down valiantly.

The road was dark, which didn't surprise her. There weren't any lights outside of the main town boundaries. It was one reason wild dogs were such frequent visitors to her farm, although they didn't often enter the town proper. They didn't like the lights.

She thought she heard them howling in the distance as she rounded the curve of the road and took the narrow path towards the Goddess' pond and the Hot Springs.

She didn't see anyone. "Hello?" She was relieved that she managed to keep her voice normal and strong, although confusion and fear were going at it in her stomach. Still, Claire heard nothing but the soft lapping of the tiny waves in the pond and the slight hissing of the Springs themselves. She moved closer to the building, her eye caught by a glint of white in the moonlight.

There was a note on the door. It was typewritten like the other, and said only, "Come inside."

Fishing in her rucksack, Claire pulled out her axe; it had the best defensive capabilities of any of her tools. Something about this made her very nervous. She held it at the ready and opened the door.

There was someone inside, though she couldn't see who it was at all. There was a masculine cast to the darker silhouette she could see, and a definitely masculine scent she couldn't quite identify. "Who's there?" Her voice faltered, and she flinched at her own evident weakness.

Instead of answering, a finger placed itself on her lips in a gesture for silence as a gentle hand asked silently for the axe. Something in her hindbrain said it would be all right, so she relinquished it with only a little hesitation. She heard the axe being placed gently on the bench before the hand came back to her own wrist in a gentle caress. She was pulled towards the man - for man it was - for a gentle kiss. Again, common sense warred with the urge to give into the moment.

The moment won.

She relaxed into his arms, and the kiss deepened. There was something familiar about it, something that seemed right, even though her brain refused to make sense of it. For long moments they stood there, just kissing and holding one another. She wasn't even sure who it was, because he had lightly pinned her arms to her sides. He wasn't trying to be restrictive but instead it seemed that he wanted to keep the mystery. Claire was willing to cooperate. Evidently, this was what the Goddess had intended to happen, so who was Claire to argue with her deity?

The hand on her wrist took hers instead and pulled her towards the door leading to the Springs.

"Wait, I'm not getting into the Spring like this! Go, and let me change," she said, a strange note she couldn't identify in her voice. He was warm and gentle and strong, and she was so tired of always being the strong one, of never receiving any tenderness...

She couldn't be sure, but a niggling suspicion was forming in the back of her mind. She tried to see who it was as he slipped out the door and into the water, but the light was too dim to see inside. She quickly undressed and entered into the spring. He had has back to her, but as she entered, he turned around.

The leer on his face told her how much he appreciated what he saw as she eased into the warm frothy water, and shock almost chased her out again; even though she had begun to suspect, the reality still came as a surprise.

"Rick?"

"Hey, Darling." The leer quickly shifted to chagrin. "I'm sorry I screwed up so much. I wanted to surprise you. I hate that things have gotten so bad. I want to be a better husband, the kind I promised to be when I married you. I'm so sorry." His eyes were slightly unfocused without his glasses.

"Oh, Rick," Claire said. She stepped into her husband's arms. "I believe you, but only if you prove it," she whispered against his lips as he pulled her in for another kiss.


End file.
